Bernard Malamud was born in 1914 in New York City and later received his B. A. from City College of New York and his M. A. from Columbia University. All of Malamud's works are highly respected, including "Armistice" (his first), "The Magic Barrel," which won the National Book Award, "The Fixer," which received a Pulitzer Prize. "The Assistant," "The Natural," "The Fixer," and "The Angel Levine," which were all adapted as films. Bernard Malamud died in 1986.
Jonathan Lethem lives in Brooklyn, New York.